Were a majority of the Gazan journalists killed since October 7th, 2023 linked to terrorist organizations?

This is a disputed claim with sharply conflicting assessments from different sources — there is no independent, verified consensus answer.

Israeli government and pro-Israel research claims (yes, majority):
A study by the Israel-based Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center examined the identities of 266 individuals identified as journalists or media workers killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and November 30, 2025, and found that at least 157 of them — roughly 60 percent — were members of terror groups or clearly affiliated with them, including 104 linked to Hamas and 45 to Islamic Jihad. The researchers said they matched Hamas casualty lists and Palestinian press reports with Israel Defense Forces documents, internal rosters, and social media evidence that showed dual roles.

More recently, the IDF itself published its own database. It published a database identifying 170 people killed in Gaza who were presented as journalists and media workers but who in reality served as operatives, combatants, or commanders in Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or other terror groups. According to this release, 118 of those identified were members of Hamas' military wing, while 49 were members of PIJ, and 17 individuals participated directly in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks. The IDF said the identities and affiliations were verified using documentation released by the terrorist organizations themselves and materials recovered by Israeli troops during Gaza operations.

Similarly, a BBC-focused review found that 53 Palestinians described by BBC as journalists had links to terrorist organizations, with some pictured on social media wearing combat fatigues and carrying weapons.

Press freedom organizations' response (dispute the "majority" framing):
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the main independent tracker of journalist deaths, strongly disputes the characterization that a majority were terrorists. After reviewing its database amid these allegations, CPJ said that 19 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire who it had previously identified as journalists or media workers were actually militants or participants in combat, and removed another three Palestinians from its list because their role as journalists could not be established. As of its most recent count, the total of individuals documented by CPJ as journalists or media workers killed by Israel in Gaza and in Israeli detention centers since October 7, 2023, stands at 209. Even after removing the 19-22 confirmed combatants, this leaves the overwhelming majority of CPJ's list as still classified as journalists, not terrorists — directly contradicting the "majority" claim.

CPJ's leadership has explicitly rejected the premise, stating "CPJ has always been clear that we do not include anyone in our data sets if there is evidence that they were engaging in combat or inciting imminent violence," while condemning any actual misrepresentation of combatants as journalists. Even after its review, CPJ maintains that its figures show Israeli forces were responsible for "by far the majority of killings of journalists and media workers worldwide since 2023."

CPJ has also pushed back on specific Israeli claims. When Israel accused Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul of Hamas ties, CPJ noted that the Israeli military had "produced a similar document" containing "contradictory information showing that al-Ghoul, born in 1997, received a Hamas military ranking in 2007 – when he would have been 10 years old."

An independent analysis of the competing databases found overlap but also significant unresolved discrepancies — one review noted that after accounting for new IDF identifications, 68 percent of a specific subset of 79 cases are now identified as combatants, with 24 percent confirmed as members of terrorist organizations by the organizations themselves through obituary notices or organizational statements.

Bottom line: Israeli government sources and allied research institutions assert that a majority (roughly 60%) of journalists killed were linked to Hamas, PIJ, or other armed factions, and have released detailed documentation to support specific cases. Press freedom organizations like CPJ acknowledge some individual misidentifications but reject the "majority" framing, maintaining that the vast majority of names on their lists remain verified as journalists rather than combatants. Given active, ongoing database reviews, document disputes, and the impossibility of independent on-the-ground verification (since Israel has restricted outside journalist access to Gaza), this remains a contested factual question rather than a settled one.